>> richard engel in kabul tonight, richard, please stay safe the pentagon announced late today they will send in another thousand u.s. troops in addition to the 5,000 already there or enroute to help get americans out. we want to bring in chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell how many americans are there right now and what is their status >> there are 500 who have already left, left the airport, out of the country there are a couple thousand more americans we know, embassy personnel and others, who are still there, most secured at the airport, but the evacuation of the embassy itself is ongoing we are told tonight. and there are also of course the afghans who helped american military i have to tell you, after being in that palace so many times with u.s. officials, visiting diplomats, seeing the taliban there is a shock how quickly this came. a shock to everyone. >> so many evacuations and so little time to get it done. andrea mitchell, thank you very much. tonight president biden is watching the deteriorating situation unfold from camp david and consulting with his national

richard engel is there for us >> reporter: the u.s.-led evacuation today is finally moving quickly and smoothly from the military side of kabul airport. planes arriving and departing around the clock. it's a far cry from the bedlam monday when thousands of afghans broke into the airport, so desperate to escape the taliban, they clung onto departing aircraft now more american troops have been brought in for security today we watched troops get ready for a patrol they're relaxed. u.s. forces may be doing this for several more days or even weeks. as u.s. officials say up to 15,000 americans remain in afghanistan, along with tens of thousands of afghans who may be eligible for asylum, including the group we met yesterday who had no visas. >> somebody promise, okay, i will give you tomorrow, day after tomorrow they didn't. >> reporter: today they met with a state department official who says they're working on getting flights with them and the others who work on the base, along with their families this afternoon we saw hundreds of afghans b

hour richard engel is on the ground talking to desperate afghanis trying everything they can to get out of the city as panic falls over residents >> everyone showed up with their i.d. cards, pictures of their phone, other i.d.s, recommendation letters, employment contracts, and they're hoping that all 24 paperwork will be enough to get them a visa immediately so they can get out of this country. >> richard's incredible account as the taliban took over >>> to haiti, where saturday's def vastating earthquake has rescuers looking fororing. >>> and the delta variant is overwhelming hospitals a busy monday ahead. "early today" starts right now >>> glad you could with us i'm frances rivera after nearly 20 years, $1 trillion, and thousands of lives lost, american presence in afghanistan comes to a chaotic end. u.s. choppers evacuated embassy staff out of the city, as taliban fighters poured into the capital of kabul, sealing their control of the entire country. nbc's molly hunter joins us now from london. molly, good morning. it took ten days for the taliban to take over what is the state of t

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel as you probably know has spent big portions of the last two decades of his life in afghanistan during the war there. richard also weeks ago reported on some of the last fierce fighting by elite afghan commando units fighting against taliban forces. we now know that was some of the last fighting like that that there was in afghanistan and richard was right there in the middle of it. but now that the taliban have been able to take control of, first, all the provincial capitals, and then the whole country including kabul, without fighting at all, not in a military operation but just in what appears to have been a negotiated surrender by afghan government forces and the afghan military, all over the country, as the taliban have now walked in to kabul without firing a shot, richard has been there reporting around the clock as they have taken over. again, as i mentioned be we have been battling some technical difficulties, as you might imagine, for some obvious reasons but i do believe we've got our dear friend richard engel now joining us live.

>> joining me from kabul, a place he's been many, many times is my colleague richard engel. richard, i know you've been seeing a lot of helicopters. we're seeing the evacuation, i guess, begin. what is the sentiment like right now on the streets of kabul. >> reporter: i was just walking around kabul, and i can tell you the mood is changing. this is a city that felt different from the rest of afghanistan. it was a cosmopolitan city that wanted to be an international hub. there was an optimism here, even in the worst days. now there are a lot of hard stares, and people are preparing for the worst. they're thinking about where to move their families. there are many people who don't know what to do, because they worked for the u.s. military. not only translators. you have contractors, subcontractors, cleaners, security guards. they don't know what they're supposed to do. this city is preparing for a taliban takeover. i was filming -- if you'll excuse. there's a lot of noise because there's a constant stream of helicopters. there was a beauty salon that we used to film at because

, it's much less stressful. >> richard engel, thank you. i know you're making your way around and doing your reporting and thank you for calling in and stay safe, please. >> thank you. >> and coming up, getting a boost. j & j releasing data to support a second shot of the one-dose vaccine. conserving water to fight covid? why two florida towns are asking residents to cut back. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. can you be free of hair breakage worries? we invited mahault to see for herself that new dove breakage remedy gives damaged hair the strength it needs. even with repeated combing hair treated with dove shows 97% less breakage. strong hair with new dove breakage remedy. it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, shows 97% less breakage. jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy

we are joined by general barry mccaffrey and richard engel. richard is in the safety of doha.pposed to hear exactly right now from president biden. members of the press pool at the white house have set up cameras and lights. they were ushered in, then ushered out. we cannot show you the shot because it was taken down. we presume this to be a brief delay. there is the white house. obviously when the signal comes up, when we can see the room we will go there and take the shot. also, obviously, we are on the air today covering this horrendous news, the death of a dozen u.s. marines, many more injured in one and then two different suicide attacks in kabul. there have been various reports over just the past few hours, some of them from journalists, some of them from civilians of further explosions, further concussions in afghanistan in and around the airport perhaps. the u.s. commanding general there has warned he does not expect these incoming attacks to stop. he has assured the american press corps during q & a today that he believes he has the power on the ground that he needs,

richard engel begins our reporting. >> reporter: it was every soldier and marine in kabul's worst fear, an attack where they're most exposed. as troops were padding down an evacuee at a kabul airport gate searching for a bomb, he or she -- that's still unclear -- detonated one, killing at least 13 u.s. service members, injuring more than a dozen. >> this is close up war. the breath of the person you're searching is upon you. while we have overwatch in place, we still have to touch the clothes of the person coming in ultimately americans have to be in danger to do these searches there's no other way to do it >> reporter: dozens of afghans killed another bomb exploded a few hundred yards from the first as isis fighters sprayed gunfire, afghans tumbled, dead and injured, into a sewage ditch. we drove through this exact spot a few days ago, a corridor flanked by concrete blast walls that leads right to an airport gate the u.s. is relying on the taliban to prescreen the crowds pushing to get into the airport, hoping for a flight out of afghanistan. patting them down before they're checked a

let's get to white house correspondent kelly o'donnell and richard engel. if you are live for us in doha, what are you hearing? >> so i was at that airport earlier this morning. i am now in doha, qatar, and what i am hearing from a security source at the baron hotel and what the taliban are saying to nbc news and videos, very, very disturbing videos that are circulating on social media are all putting together a fairly consistent story, that there was a complex attack in the area between the baron hotel which is right up against the air base where the evacuation is taking place and built practically against the outer perimeter, and in the area exiting that hotel leading to the abby gate and there is a corridor 2 hun yards long and in that corridor flanked on either side by very tall, concrete blast barriers, afghans have been gathering and they've been gathering there since the fall of kabul, since the evacuation began, and that in this corridor is where we understand this attack took place and the videos we've seen show bodies that have been thrown into a

congressmen making secret trip to kabul, and richard engel's interview with a top taliban official willk evacuations? >>> as covid cases soar, johnson & johnson says a second dose of its vaccine increases protection by nine times. how long will that protection last, and what experts say about mixing and matching the booster shots. >>> shocking body camera footage emerging of a state trooper beating a black motorist during a traffic stop the police calling it excessive and unjustifiable. the officer accused of hiding the video >>> a big defeat for the biden administration the supreme court reinstates the controversial program that keeps migrants in mexico while they seek asylum in the u.s. >>> the new and dangerous heat wave, 75 million under heat alerts plus the costly ripple effect of wildfires. how many homeowners now are seeing their property insurance dropped. >>> and how one litt

still arriving to secure the kabul airport and the departure of american and allied civilians richard engel leads our team on the ground in kabul >> reporter: tens of thousands of afghans swarmed into kabul airport, desperate to leave at any price they burst through security, climbed over walls and spilled on to the tarmac, searching for any airplane that would take them far away from afghanistan, away from the taliban so many managed to cram into one plane, the pilot refused to take off people on board refused to disembark but it was across a barbed wire divide where it turned really ugly on the military side of the airport, american troops trying to evacuate u.s. embassy staff found themselves overwhelmed, suddenly battling crowds, firing warning shots this was not the mission they came for. the pentagon says u.s. troops shot dead two armed afghans. but still the crowds didn't disperse. instead, they ran along and clung to the undercarriage of a military transport plane as it taxied for takeoff. one u.s. military official told me it was 100 times worse than the humiliating american pullou

>> richard engel with this tough chapter in american history 11 marines, a sailor and an army soldier were the last american service members killed in the war peter alexander now has a look at the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice >> corporate humberto a. sanchez >> behind every name is a story and family in grief >> if there were more nicoles, it would be a much better world. >> reporter: just days before her death, sergeant nicole gee wrote "i love my job," posting this poignant picture of her cradling an afghan baby. for nicole's dad, she'll always be his little girl. >> she is my hero. she is a warrior she's very compassionate. she is very caring, loving >> reporter: 20-year-old marine corporal dylan merola his mom says was one of the best kids ever. just an infant when u.s. troops first arrived in afghanistan. army staff sergeant ryan knauss' wife says her husband would have no regrets >> for him, it is the ultimate honor he could give back to his country and to help those people >> reporter: these service members now home, their sacrifice honored in cities and towns across

and our richard engel. what he encountered on his journey out of afghanistan. >>> also, the battle over boosters. why some experts are slamming the u.s. plan to roll out third shots. it comes as hospitals are on the brink and three u.s. senators all testing positive >>> tropical storm henri. will it become the first hurricane to hit new england in 30 years? >>> and fines for unruly behavior on planes hitting a new record how flight attendants are learning to defend themselves >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >> good evening, everyone washington held its breath for several hours today as the u.s. capital complex came under threat again, this time allegedly by a north carolina man with a list of grievances against the government, who according to police, drove his pickup truck on to a sidewalk at the library of congress and declared he had a bomb. capitol hill offices were evacuated as police tried to negotiate with the man who streamed his demands live on social media before surrende

going to find this man in a place where everybody else has left in many cases is my colleague richard engel. he is there now. richard, it is a confusing story from there. we have conflicting information where the taliban is, who is negotiating and where the president of afghanistan is and where control lies. tell us what you see. >> well, after 20 years of u.s. military presence here, after america's longest war the united states is leaving, the u.s. is evacuating personnel and it is doing it in a rushed way with helicopters and fixed wings flying over the city all day long. ferrying people out. it is an emergency evacuation. and the taliban have taken over all of afghanistan. there is really no afghan government any more. the afghan government is currently negotiating its surrender. the afghan government does not control kabul any more. there are average citizens that will just rush up and pull a weapon away from a police officer because they want to show their own strength or whatever reason. you have a situation with the government collapse in city after city after city. it is collapsed

richard engel, tragic. really appreciate you. who served in iraq and afghanistan and at that point it sticks with me as someone that opposed the iraq war from the beginning. the fact we took our eye off of the ball in afghanistan and took all of the resources to iraq and allowed afghanistan to deteriorate. i think that is awful and a stain on the bush administration. i will edit the what did we accomplish question. we got bin laden. so, that happened. but for you as somebody that served in afghanistan, i think of a 22-year-old, for all of their life has essentially lived with the freedoms that richard engel described. a girl being able to go to school and maybe now in college or wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer. they never lived under the taliban. what should we say to that girl who is going to discover the hell of taliban life. >> joy, this is nothing short of heartbreaking. i am a member of congress now but before i served in iraq and afrg. afghanistan twice. like many of us that served in afghanistan, we left a piece of our

richard engel, nbc news. >>> amid all the chaos of refugees trying to get out of afghanistan comes a small story of hope. an afghan woman gave birth on board a plane before it landed in germany. pictures show the moment medical personnel rushed to help the woman on the tarmac. she went into labor on the flight and the pilot decided to descend in altitude to stabilize the mother and likely saved her life. both mother and baby doing well out of the hospital. >>> we continue to follow all the developments from afghanistan across our digital platforms. go to nbcbayarea.com. coverage also continues next on "nightly news" at 5:30. >>> now on to our micro climate weather coverage. a live look outside at san jose and dublin shows smokey skies returning to the bay area. with that comes a new smoke advisory. rob is tracking all of it for us. hey, rob. what do you got? >> yeah. we got major wild fires burning on all sides. and the fire sending the most smoke, picking up ash falling from that major wild fire south of highway 50. look at all the ash and smoke pouring in to south lake tahoe. sierr

congressmen making secret trip to kabul, and richard engel's interview with a top taliban official will they block evacuations? >>> as covid cases soar, johnson & johnson says a second dose of its vaccine increases protection by nine times. how long will that protection last, and what experts say about mixing and matching the booster shots. >>> shocking body camera footage emerging of a state trooper beating a black motorist during a traffic stop the police calling it excessive and unjustifiable. the officer accused of hiding the video >>> a big defeat for the biden administration the supreme court reinstates the controversial program that keeps migrants in mexico while they seek asylum in the u.s. >>> the new and dangerous heat wave, 75 million under heat alerts plus the costly ripple effect of wildfires. how many homeowners now are seeing their property insurance dropped. >>> and how one little league champ is in a league of her own. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >>> good evening, everyone the biden administration tonight doing the tough math six days to me

richard engel, nbc news, doha. >> heartbreaking what is going on there. coverage continues on our digital platforms. visit our website nbcbayarea.com. click on afghanistan attacks. it is up in the trending bar. >>> and there you have it. the opening bell of the new york stock exchange where the s&p 500 and the nasdaq hit record highs today as the stocks from tech stocks, well, they climbed. >>> now w who intends to vote in the recall election but you're not registered to vote. well, midnight tonight is your deadline to register. online you have until 11:59 p.m. to get that information and get registered. >>> here's a look at some of the key contenders seeking to replace the governor. out of the nearly 50 choices and here are some of the things the new governor would be up against. starting with what is still a heavily democratic legislature. that means barring executive orders a super majority would still be able to override most policy changes or budget plans. any replacement will also be up against the clock because next november california will elect a

richard engel, nbc news, kabul >>> schools across the nation are seeing a surge in covid cases among children and faculty members. in mississippi, more than 20,000 students are in quarantine from exposure to covid-19 after the first week of school according to some state data the number is 5% of the state's public school students classes return for in-person learning on august 9th the state says less than 36% of residents are fully vaccinated. >>> in florida, school districts in miami and tampa have passed mask mandates for all students, which violates emergency rules put in place by governor ron desantis, who issued an executive order banning mask mandates in schools and threatened districts that went against the law. a total of four school districts have now defied that order. >>> this, as teenagers in new zealand can roll up their sleeves to receive a covid shot. the country, upped a covid lockdown, is allowing kids 12 to 18 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. here is nbc's chris pallone. >> there are people who are dying and will die who didn't have to. >> reporter: callin

richard engel had a chance to ask a taliban official about the u.s. pullout directly. we will air that interview for you, plus the spokesman's controversial take on osama bin laden later on this broadcast. there was criticism for the two congressmen who took it on themselves to make a secret bipartisan trip to the kabul airport. both iraq veterans insist they went there to conduct oversight on the evacuation. tonight, congressman meyer defended the visit, responding to concerns that their trip likely interrupted the evacuation. >> we were lied to up and down, and we needed to see for ourselves. we flied on a military plane on the way out, at the encouragement of individuals that were there. we waited for open seats to make sure we didn't take anything away from individuals who need it. >> speaker pelosi, less than pleased with these congressmen, warning others not to make similar trips. meanwhile, the investigation into the january 6th insurrection and riot demanded documents from eight different agencies, including communications from the president and associates, inc

is trying to make up time and get this done as urgently as possible richard engel, nbc news, kabul >>> breaking news regarding covid booster shots. nbc news confirms the biden administration is planning to recommend that most americans should get a third dose of a covid-19 vaccine eight months after they receive their second shot the "new york times" first reporting that the announcement could come as early as this week, and plans to begin administering these third shots could be ready as early as middle to late september based on pending fda authorization >>> major cities are saying no vaccination, no service as they put into place vaccination mandates for restaurants and other venues the new requirement kicks off in new york city today. san francisco and new orleans have also followed suit. meanwhile, u.s. customs and border protection agents in memphis say they've seized over 3,000 fake vaccination cards this year. officials say the latest package was shipped from shenzhen china and was headed to new orleans. the news comes as a wave of coronavirus continues to hit the country hard

richard engel, nbc news, kabul. >>> a violent trend is hitting a south bay high school. fights breaking out on campus. one of them leaving a student unconscious. the action school leaders are taking today. >>> and the giants back on nbc bay area later this week. on friday they're heading to atlanta to take on the division leading braves. you can watch the game right here on nbc bay area. it all starts at 4:00. at usaa, we've been called too exclusive. because we were created for officers. but as we've evolved with the military, we've grown to serve all who've honorably served. no matter their rank, or when they were in. a marine just out of basic, or a petty officer from '73. and even his kids. and their kids. usaa is made for all who've honorably served and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join. >>> new this morning, some video of the country talking about scary moments for drivers in southern california after a small plane made an emergency landing on the freeway. happened yesterday on southbound interstate 5 near de

and our richard engel.ntered on his journey out of afghanistan. >>> also, the battle over boosters. why some experts are slamming the u.s. plan to roll out third shots. it comes as hospitals are on the brink and three u.s. senators all testing positive >>> tropical storm henri. will it become the first hurricane to hit new england in 30 years? >>> and fines for unruly behavior on planes hitting a new record how flight attendants are learning to defend themselves

. >> i want to bring in our chief foreign correspondent richard engel, on the phone, still in kabul. richard, what is it like on the ground where you are? >> reporter: so going back to what you were just talking about, about the airport and access to the airport, it's quite significant and one perspective, the taliban has been giving mixed messages because the u.s. military is telling them don't haar ross the flights and obstruct the process and since they are the government, keep people back. because it was two days ago that this airport was overrun, so i'm on the airport now, it was overrun by people who were civilians who were desperate to leave, some of them worked with the u.s. military, some of them didn't. some of them were just afraid to stay under taliban rule, so one message is for the taliban, keep people back and the taliban have been aggressive doing that, firing in the air, they have pushing people, in some cases beating people, but they are now also being told to allow certain afghans to come through and americans to come through, so that they can be processed but the a

so as richard engel points out, they are not screening people worth a hoot. so it will be a tragic situation all over afghanistan. americans, ngos, afghans who work with us are unlikely to get out through that airfield. they will have to go out through adjoining countries. pakistan, iran, central asian republic, you name it. >> john kirby has not yet given us any detailed information about how many americans are even there. monica, we have a lot of travel restrictions because of covid. what is the administration saying or doing about vaccinations for the people who are coming in from afghanistan? >> we don't yet know exactly how they are handling that because before they even get to that point, we're told and the state departmental looted to this alluded to this that their priority is to get tell out safely.looted to this alluded to this that their priority is to get tell out safely. after that at third country processing centers because the flights aren't direct to the united states, there has been some covid testing we understand and depending on what count

our report tonight from our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. >> reporter: the signs are allnd turkey and in california. >> the dixie fire is now the second largest wildfire in california history. it's burn in order than 600 structures and still threatens some 13,000 homes. and where there isn't fire, there is water. once in a century flash floods killed 100s in germany, bull belgium and china this summer. the climate is getting more hostile, and today the u.n. said it is already too late to stop some of the devastating impacts of climate change. >> it is indisputable that human activities are causing climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and severe. >> reporter: the u.n. report is the world's largest and most up-to-the-minute study on climate change. it says rising sea levels and shrinking glaciers and arctic sea ice are irreversible for century, or even mellinia. with every region on the planet already impacted by more frequent and dangerous weather swings. but it's not entirely without hope. finding that temperatures can be stabilized if we act dec

let me bring in richard engel. he's on the phone for us for obvious reasons. still in country. richard, you were hearing about courtney's reporting and this point of view of the military versus the white house. what are you seeing? i'm curious, the special operation forces on the afghan side of things which we had seen get praised all the time from our military. really the only aspect of the afghan military that would be singled out for praise. what happens to them? >> so, there were two units that were trained by american special ops. they were doing very well. they were fighting. they were motivated. those were the commandos and the air force, which was backing up the commandos. they were leading the fight. the problem is, if you can't fight a war and defend a country if you only have the navy s.e.a.l.s or delta force. they are the tip but the shaft of the spear broke and eventually if you're just fighting with the tip of the spear, you don't fight very long. although they were fighting bravely and fought pretty much until the end when the backbone of the military collapsed,

our man in kabul, richard engel. our long-time chief foreign correspondent. richard, everyone who knows and loves you at work, everyone watching, joins us in wishing you nothing but safety as you go on about your work there. thank you so much for reporting in live from kabul. director brennan, we were speaking to you before we heard from richard engel, and director, you opened the door on the intelligence failure this represents, it being your stock in trade, your life's work. given your love for the men and women involved in the trade, talk about that a little bit. talk about how it could have happened. and if i can add a part two of the question, what's the role going forward for the clandestine services broadly without specifics? >> well, i don't know what the intelligence assessment was as far as how rapidly the afghan forces were going to collapse. but i do know that the assessment has been for quite a while that the afghan military and security capabilities was very dependent on that u.s. support system. and so i think the events over the last several da

richard engel, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. >>> as we heard at the top of the show, congresswoman liz cheney is among the republicans criticiing former president trump's deal with the taliban in 2020 which promised reduced american forces and a prisoner swap. >> this is -- it's a devastating set of circumstances, but the delegit mization of the afghan government the notion in the trump administration, the suggestion that at one point they were going to invite the taliban to camp david -- >> on september 11th. >> yeah. that they -- this disaster certainly began, and look, the notion of we're going to end endless wars, what we're watching right now in afghanistan is what happens when america withdraws from the world. >> now listen to this. it's important you listen carefully, it's incredible. here's what then president trump said at the time. >> we had a very good conversation with the leader of the taliban today. and they're looking to get this ended and we're looking to get it ended. i think we all have a common interest. but th

>> joined by nbc news chief correspondent richard engel. richard, this is how it ends, 20 years.t's the fallout? >> reporter: well, i think the fallout is huge, and i think we're going to be feeling this for many years to come. the same way that the iraq war created a hole in the middle east and then all the countries around it shifted and it caused tremendous instability and ultimately we saw the rise of isis. now to a degree the united states and other nations have managed to plug that hole, but it took a long time. now the collapse of afghanistan, taken over by the taliban, is creating a hole in central asia. and it's going to impact -- it's going to suck in the countries all around it. it's going to suck in pakistan. it's going to suck in iran. with iraq, it tore up the middle east that was established after the first world war. it tore up the old maps. here, i would be looking at the doran line, the line between afghanistan and pakistan. this used to be called the great game for central asia. with this pullout, we've just started the great game. >> what is america's role goi

to withdraw under fire. >> that was richard engel reporting. we have breaking news as the situation on the ground. we mentioned there was work under way to evacuate all of the personnel out of what was the u.s. embassy in kabul. ned price had confirmed that all of the embassy personnel have now been safely evacuated. they are now on the premises of hamid karzai international airport, which is not really far. it's about a 3 1/2, 4-mile drive from the embassy. and now, the perimeter is secured by the military. all of the u.s. personnel have been accounted for in an attempt to evacuate the compound. they are being guarded by the u.s. military at the airport. >>> let's get to the white house. to the biden administration and its strategy for dealing with the siege. president biden is monitoring from camp david. what is the president's plan for addressing the nation with regards to everything that has happened. i'm surprised we haven't heard from him yet. >> nothing on his schedule for monday. at least as of now. we were told by a senior administrati

getting us started i'm joined by richard engel who is the a the kabul airport. also courtney kube, andrea mitchell, and mike memoli. richard, i will start with you. set the scene for us right now what is going on in kabul at this hour? >> i will start with the airport that is just a few hundred yards from here. they do seem to have cleared out most of the people, and i say they, it is the taliban that took over the civilian side of the airport, and the u.s. military that is overseeing the evacuation from the other side, the military side of the airport. that allows the arrival, once again, of the american transport plane sos they can bring in extra troops and bring out diplomatic personnel and they will have to bring out the troops. they're trying to set up a perimeter and as the situation here in kabul gets more and more dangerous they're beefing up that perimeter. all day long, and now kabul is controlled by the taliban, they have been firing shots up at the planes, it seems like they have been just harassing fire, almost celebratory fire as the american helico

i mean, these are desperate people richard engel was reporting they haven't had power since h they left with the generators and the electricity. so they tookto out, you know, mt of the important -- the planes were flown out. but they left a lot behind. they destroyed a lot of communications gear. without lpower, those prisoner have beense in the kabul summer without any kind of facilities, you know, for weeks now. so these people are probably sick and desperate as well. and you could see another chopper nowco in real time flyi as those shinooks are taking people out, you know. you can fit a fairly large number on those choppers since vietnam. we're hearing what could be firecrackers or fire in the distance. >> right. with that, andrea mitchell, thank you very much for your reporting. we're going to go now, youh mentioned her name, so we're going to talk to her. nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney kube. courtney, so great to see you. pickup where andrea left off, talking about after all these years and all the resources put into training the afghan forces, that they would f surrende

nbc as you chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest from kabul. >> reporter: we made it on the military side of the kabul airport. this is where the u.s. is carrying out its final withdrawal from afghanistan. the american flag still flies here. this side of the airport has long been an american and nato base and it's full with extra american troops brought in for the evacuation. this has become the last military base in afghanistan, the last presence of american troops. the evacuations are mainly bringing out americans and other foreign nationals, along with afghans who managed to get visas and who are happy to be leaving. hundreds packed into one american cargo jet. the biden administration has promised to expedite visas for afghans who worked for the u.s. military. tens of you shoulds are still waiting. i think spoke to a group of afghans, they've all worked on this base for over five years. not one has a visa. what did you do? what was your job? >> i work in the visiting office. >> reporter: in the visiting office? >> visiting office. >> reporter: if you go back ho

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel indicating that both of those numbers expected to rise based on folks you talk to on the ground there. >> director brennan, are we getting a preview of what life is going to be like in and around kabul for at least the short term, pitched fighting by at least two terror groups. >> i think it may very well be a harbinger of the violence that will still be on the afghan countryside. as the taliban and isis-k battle one another, but again, i think it's the concentration of the u.s. military at kabul airport and the throngs of people on the outside that is -- as well as all of the spotlight of the cameras and the tv footage that was being shown around the world that is giving these terrorist groups, isis-k in particular the opportunity to carry out these attacks and then be able to say to the world, see what we can do and what we are capable of doing. so i think given the plethora of weapons and explosives and other things that are available inside afghanistan, afghanistan will be racked for many years and decades to come with this type of vi

on >> our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in doha tonight where he continues to follow events in kabul. >> while hundreds of americans have evacuated cavill in the last 24 hours, if you're an afghan trying to get to the airport, now the block is -- the path as. blocked the u.s. is saying that they are corrupt -- killed at least 13 american service members, most of them marines while they were doing pat downs of evacuees. among them, navy corman maxed and soviet from ohio whose sister descriptor baby brother as beautiful, intelligence, beats to the sound of his own. drum 20 year old marine david lee espinosa born in texas, the mayor of his hometown today calling him a fallen hero. maureen riley o colin was expecting a baby in just a few weeks. wetlands curl -- that's corporal jarred schmutz, a marine from history. more than 150 afghans were killed. with a couples hospital today, a butchers bill of the dead and nearly 200 injured. coffins arrived in a steady stream. this man was who wounded in the blast. an asylum seeker, he says that he was standing by the airport gate playing

richard engel, nbc news, doha, qatar. >> and meanwhile the president revealed today that u.s. forces did have to go outside the airport grounds into the city of kabul to help retrieve americans. >> just yesterday, among the many americans we evacuated, there were 169 americans who we got over the wall at the airport using military assets. >> late today the pentagon confirmed this incident, saying three helicopters picked up the americans from a nearby hotel because of concerns for their safety. the pentagon says the u.s. commander on the ground made the call to use the choppers to bring the evacuees to the airport. even with the chaos outside the airport gates, inside american troops are trying to bring even the smallest sense of humanity to their mission, as some of the pictures emerging from there now show. many families with children our among the thousands of evacuees as they wait for flights out of afghanistan. u.s. service members were trying to make that weight as comfortable as humanly possible. we are also following the latest on the effort to stop the surge in new vi

he will have secretary of state antony blinken, disease expert michael osterholm and richard engel who is in kabul. tune in to "meet the press" at 8:00 a.m. after this news cast. >>> as we mentioned california voters will decide whether to recall governor newsom in about a month from now. the governor is making campaign stops in los angeles this weeked. one stop was in boyle heights where he thanked volunteers who have been encouraging voters to vote no on the recall. the weekend of action will stretch into monday with a morning event in san jose. while the official election is in four weeks ballots are already arriving in mailboxes and they can be mailed back or put in dropboxs as soon as monday. >> this is about turning in the votes, which you can do today in these -- these things have stamps on them. you send them right back in. >> the ballot has two questions, should newsom be recalled and if so, who should take his place. there are 46 candidates on the ballot including nine fellow democrats. >>> violence in downtown los angeles is growing over vaccine mandates. it was a chaotic sc

richard engel is on the phone from kabul, where the evacuations are happening, at the airport. richard, can you tell us what you're seeing on the ground, as we back here at home have seen some of the evacuees this morning start to arrive. >> reporter: as courtney was describing the biggest problem is getting to the airport, getting onto the airport. the military and taliban signed a peace agreement and the time shifted and more or less in a situation the u.s. is negotiating with the taliban asking the taliban for safe passage, allow us to get our people out and don't harass them. it is not going particularly smoothly because it is unclear which kind of people are supposed to be allowed out and i have gone through that gauntlet, gone from the outside to the inside and it is not an easy process. going through concentric circles the city of kabul, controlled by the taliban and the perimeter around the airport a couple i $of ago was breached. hundreds of afghans, thousands of afghans climbed over the walls, rushed onto the airport, into the airport. they boarded civilian planes and

richard engel has more. >> reporter: the signs are all there.nd largest in california history, it still threatens some 13,000 homes. >> reporter: and where there isn't fire, there's water. once in a century flash floods killed hundreds in germany, belgium and china this summer. the climate is getting more hostile and the u.n. said it is already too late to stop some of the devastating impacts of climate change. >> it's indisputable that human activities are causing climate change and making extreme weather events more frequent and severe. >> reporter: the u.n. report is the largest and most up to date study on climate change. it says shrinking glaciers and sea ice are inchangeable for a millennia pl but it's not without hope. finding temperatures can stabilize if we act over the next several decades. >> thanks to richard engel for that report. >>> joining us now with a look at axios a.m. the co-founder mike allen. what is the axios one big thing this morning? >> good morning. axios' one big thing is one place where trump still wins, where trump

here again tonight, richard engel in kabul.gain tonight, richar>> at kabl airport, time is running out. the u.s. and nato allies have just one week to pull out all their citizens and vulnerable afghans after the taliban today, again insisted they accept no exception beyond august 31st, or there would be consequences. the u.s. embassy apparently feeling the strain issuing a final alert for american citizens to leave tonight or they would be on their own, then recalling it 30 minutes later. this is an extremely busy airfield, every ten minutes planes are coming in and there are not just from the united states. we've seen them from the uk, australia, civilian aircrafts, this is a truly global airlift. these satellite images show the huge crowds trying to leave the airport. but now, finally, the departures are going smoothly. we watched a qatari air force plane bound for doha being loaded. as they monitor air forces. but will the airlifts be done in the week? maybe, but it will be difficult. u.s. troops don't just need to fly out a